I could not be sorry for her, she deserved it so completely; but then
poor Horace had to be punished. And another time, she shut Dora up
in a dark room, and really it did the poor little girl a great deal
of harm; she could not sleep quietly for three nights after. Dora is
old enough to take care of herself now; and Edward is quieter than
Horace, which is a great comfort; but, oh! I wish the Hazlebys were
forty miles off!'

'Now, Lizzie,' said Anne, 'is it not a very strange thing to hear you
talk in this manner?--you, the most good-natured person in the
world!'

'Thank you,' said Elizabeth; 'that is as much as to say that I am the
greatest goose in the world.'

'And you had rather be a goose than ill-natured,' said Anne.

'It does not follow that I should be a goose for want of ill-nature,'
said Elizabeth.

'But you say that to be good-natured is to be a goose,' said Anne.

'Yes; but good-nature is too poor a thing to be the reverse of ill-
nature,' said Elizabeth, 'it is only a negative quality.'

'I thought good-natured people were those who never used the
negative,' said Anne, laughing.

'Do not pun in the middle of a serious argument, Miss Anne,' said
Elizabeth, putting on a solemn face.